Harry Potter and the Triangle of Love
by dracosgrl7
Summary: A HarryHermione romance, in which Ron's friendship with Harry all but ends over his feelings for Hermione.
1. The Love Letter

**CHAPTER ONE-THE LOVE LETTER**

_Dear Hermione,_

_I've known you for so long and I've finally found the courage to let you know how I feel about you. I am madly, truly, and deeply in love with you, and I have been for the longest time. The first day that I met you was in our first year when we were riding the Hogwarts Express. That day was the day that my feelings for you were sparked. You were so innocent looking and your golden-brown hair was glistening in the sunlight shining through the window of the train and you looked spectacular, like a 10 year old version of a supermodel. It was bloody wicked. My feelings for you have grown gradually but surely. When we were in our fourth year, you went to the Yule Ball with Victor Krum. I was left feeling awkward; I mean there was no way that I could compete with a buffed out older man. Possibly not a man because I've heard rumors that years of riding on a broomstick can fix that! Pun intended. But still, in our first year at Hogwarts you were at a disadvantage because you were muggle born and had just recently learned about the wizarding world. But much to everyone's surprise you quickly got over the prejudice that was so unfairly placed upon your delicate shoulders and studied so much that you became the cleverest witch of our year. I fell for you even more when you overcame that obstacle. But you did much more; you are polite to everyone even if you're having trouble. When you took so many classes that no one knew how you got everywhere in our third year you still took the time to help Hagrid with his case for the support of the hippogriff Buckbeak. Well, enough with the remembrancing, you have grown so much since the time that I first met you. Well, you've grown both physically (blush, blush) as well as mentally. I can hardly stand to look at you without wanting to be next to you all of the time. You're everything that I could ever want in a woman. First off, you are a Gryffindor which means that you're brave and willing to experiment with new things, you're beautiful, and you're intelligent. Even though I had enough courage to write you this letter I definitely can't make the first move. There are more than enough clues to know who wrote this and if you indeed do like me back, I beg you please make the first move and I promise I will willingly accept. _

_Love always,_

_Really Obsessed Nuisance _

As Hermione put the letter down a smile slowly formed on her face. "It could only be Harry." She whispered aloud to herself.

"What was that?" Lavender asked her. Hermione looked around the room and as she was doing so she remembered that she had been in her dormitory with her roommates before she received the letter. She had been lying on her bed day dreaming about Harry. The dream was an erotic fantasy that involved her and Harry and Johnny Depp (because who can leave out Johnny Depp when an erotic fantasy was going on?). An owl, slightly smaller than Ron's owl Pigwidgeon had flown through the open window carrying a letter twice its size. She had had to duck out of the way in order for it not to hit her full in the face. As she reread the letter for the fifth time her mind immediately flickered to thoughts of Harry. Again she considered that the only person that had known her fairly well for that long (since first year) was Harry. Secretly she was incredibly pleased that Harry had (possibly) sent her a love letter, but she dared not show her feelings so expressively in front of the other girls. She was about to let herself go in spite of the people surrounding her and fling herself onto her bed and start yelling in thanks to the lord when Lavender and Parvati spoke to her bringing her back into reality.

"Who's that from? Ohh, I bet that it's from a boy, isn't it? Oh, know I know it is because you started to blush when I said that!" Lavender blurted out to the much embarrassed Hermione.

Parvati, waiting for Lavender to finish with her outburst began, "May I read that letter, because if is it is from a secret admirer then I bet you anything I can figure out who it's from."

"I guess so, I mean I think that it's OK if you read it, I mean it is fine with me." Hermione said quietly. She was used to getting attention. In all of her classes she was the only one that ever answered any of the questions. Well, except for her herbology, Neville was the only other one that answered the questions in that class. It wasn't that other people didn't know the answers; it's just that they knew that Hermione enjoyed giving explanations and they always felt weird doing it whenever she was around. So, she was definitely used to the attention, but she'd never really gotten attention from any of the girls. Both of her best friends were boys (and one of them an extremely HOT boy) so she was better at interacting with the male types than the girl types. So when Lavender and Parvati began bombarding her with questions she felt a little out of place. She was happy when she handed them the letter because then their attention was off of her and onto the letter. Their eyes began zooming across the page and by the time that they had finished reading they were both laughing and had beaming smiles on their faces.

"Wow! Somebody totally likes you Hermione." Lavender said.

"Duh! Like how stupid can a person get? Obviously someone likes her, I mean how many other ways can somebody interpret the words 'I'm deeply, madly, and truly in love with you.' I mean come on." Parvati spat at Lavender. At this, Lavender turned away and her face looked as if she were about to burst into tears.

"I'm sorry. I just wish that someone would write me something like this. It's so romantic. I mean it is kind of sappy for a guy to have written but that just means that he has a feminine side to him, and that's a good quality for guys to have." Lavender spoke directly to Hermione this time so as to avoid Parvati and her criticism. Parvati got up to leave and right as she opened the door she turned around, gave a meaningful place at Hermione and said casually "Oh, by the way, that letter is so from Harry, all the signs point to him. But, I gotta get going because I'm starving and breakfast is almost over."

"I'll come with you, I hope that they are serving something low-fat today, my robes have been getting a little tighter on me lately, and I think that it's from all the rich food that they have been feeding us. Don't stay forever in here, poring over that letter, come down and join us for a while." Lavender said this to Hermione. Hermione had just been sitting on her bed smiling at the bed. She looked over at Lavender and told her that she's be down in a few minutes and that she just wanted to fix her hair. As soon as Lavender and Parvati left the room though, Lavender pounced on Parvati.

"Why on earth did you tell her that Harry was the one that wrote her that letter? It was so obviously Ron I mean the signature had the initials R.O.N! Harry doesn't even like her, does he?

"Of course he does, have you seen the way that he looks at her. Teenage boys only give girls that they like _that _look. And anyways I know that Ron wrote the letter but you like him so I was saving you a heart break. When Harry and Hermione start going out, Ron will be crushed and then he will try to find someone to console and guess who will be there with a shoulder to cry on? You will, that's who! Everybody will happy. Now drop it, Hermione's coming." Her and Lavender then put on fake smiles and waved Hermione over to sit and talk with them.



Harry was sitting at his desk dozing off. Occasionally he would nod his head and pretend to be listening. Ron Weasley (his best friend) was reading to him his essay on the significance of pig's bones in the potion for getting rid of hangovers. Consequently, this potion would be of great use for both of them later on in the year.

"Are you even listening to me?" Ron pestered Harry.

"Umm…yeah...that sounds great to me…you're doing really good Ron…" he said in the sleepiest voice possible.

"Oh bother----I don't even know why I try! Harry you have to wake up, we have potions class in half an hour and you don't even have any of your essay written!" he said. At this Harry woke up and said in a matter of a fact voice, "Yes, I do have it written, while everybody was asleep last night, I snuck into Hermione's dormitory and copied her essay. Mind you I did change the words a bit so that neither she nor Snape will notice anything. Although Snape, that slimy little git, he's probably going to give me a D, cause I have gotten all of the facts right and I usually fail at his class. I was really surprised when I got an Outstanding on my potions O.W.L! "Harry retorted. He hadn't meant to say anything about his potions grade, but it had just slipped out.

"Oh My Gosh! That's amazing. I mean it really is. No offense man, but you usually suck at potions, how the hell did _you_ pull that off? I didn't even get that high and Snape hates you more than anyone that I know!" Dean gave this short speech, a little surprised at what he was saying. But, when all of the other boys in the dormitory began to nod their heads in agreement he looked at Harry with a look that said 'Well, come on, out with it.'

"To tell you the truth, I think I only did well because

a) Snape wasn't in the testing room when the practical exam was going on, and

b) Sirius was still alive and I though that I was going to live with him this summer. I truly believed that I was." As soon as he said this, he turned away from the other boys so that they couldn't see how much pain he was in. He had stopped having nightmares about his godfather's death but now he couldn't help but remembering…

_It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall._

_His body arced in a graceful arc as_

_he sank backward through the ragged_

_veil hanging from the arch…_

_And Harry saw the look of mingled_

_fear and surprise on his godfather's_

_wasted, once handsome face as he_

_fell through the ancient doorway and_

_disappeared behind the veil, which_

_fluttered for a moment as though in_

_a high wind and then fell back_

_into place…_

As the picture of Sirius's death entered Harry's mind for what seemed the thousandth time, he couldn't stop the tears from streaming silently down his cheeks. Ron, noticing that his friend was in obvious pain, tried to show the other boys out of the dormitory, in order to save Harry the embarrassment of being caught crying.

"Are you all right? I made the other boys leave and don't worry, they won't be back for a while. Do you want anything; I mean something that I am capable of accomplishing?" Ron questioned quietly. While walking over to Harry he began speaking in a soothing sort of voice. "If you're fine with Sirius then what else is bothering you? Something has been eating away at you for weeks now. I know it's not your grades, you lucky bastard, because you got a perfect score on everything, well 'cept for Divination, but we were bound to fail that one anyway. Man, I'd be bloody jumping for joy right now if I had gotten the grades that you got, well I did get basically the same grades as you except for transfiguration, I got an E instead of an O. My mum is so bloody worried that she sends me a letter every damn week to make sure that I am keeping up. But then again you probably noticed the owls." Ron said in an offhand voice. Harry had indeed noticed the weekly owls and was thoroughly tempted to send Mrs. Weasley an owl herself asking her to stop sending owls because they liked to leave 'presents' all over their dormitory. After thinking about it though he realized that she was only doing it out of love and so he refrained from sending the owl, although every week when Errol came by he regretted not sending the letter. Harry bit his lip as he sat on his bed. He knew exactly what was bothering him. He had debated plenty of times whether or not to tell Ron about Dumbledore's prophecy (well, rather the one that Dumbledore heard), but in the end he came to the conclusion that it would be too much for Ron to handle. Ron noting Harry's obvious dislike in the direction that the conversation was heading changed the topic.

"Umm…so breakfast if almost over and I'm so bloody hungry. We have about 20 minutes before we have to head down to the dungeons. I think we have just enough time to swing by the great hall, pick up a little snack, come back here to grab our essays, and make it just in time for class to start. Do you want me to grab you anything to eat while I'm down there or you going to join me?" Ron asked politely hoping to avoid the explosions that were so frequent with Harry last year.

"I'm fine, but I wouldn't mind getting a bagel. I know that my eyes are bloodshot from crying", Harry felt horrible admitting this to Ron even though he knew that Ron had seen him crying, "so would you like to get me one when you're down there?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt so pathetic. Here he was, crying, over some guy that he had met only two years ago, and had barely known. And to make matters all the better, they had met under the circumstances in which Harry had been certain that Sirius Black was trying to kill him. But, how could he think of Sirius that way, Sirius, who had been like a father to him? But Harry didn't want to tread in these dangerous waters so he thought about how hungry he was. He really wanted that bagel, but he was tired, sad, and didn't want Hermione to see him when he looked horrible. Ron, noticing the melancholy look in his friends' eye crept quietly out of the room so as not to disturb his friend. Before Ron had even closed the door of their room Harry had fallen fast asleep.

Once Ron was out of the dormitory he didn't bother being quiet. When he reached the common room, he found Hermione knitting on one of the chairs in front of the fire. As Ron walked toward her he couldn't stop his heart from beating faster. She looked even more beautiful than ever. The roaring fire was illuminating her gentle features making an effect that pleased Ron greatly. When Ron was almost at her chair, she lifted up her face and gave him a look of surprise, "Ron, what are you staring at, I thought that my knitting had gotten better. My parents agree with me when I told them all about S.P.E.W, and they firmly believe alongside me that it should be against the law to enslave house-elves. Hey, where's Harry, shouldn't he be finishing his essay, or at least getting ready for Snape's class?" Hermione asked this all in about one breath which Ron found fascinating. Actually he found everything about her fascinating except for the fact that she was still trying to get people to join S.P.E.W.

"He's upstairs, he wasn't feeling to well so I offered to go down to the great hall and get him a bagel before we have to go to the dungeons. Would you like to join me, Harry didn't specify which kind of bagel he would like and you seem to know all of those little quirky things about Harry that I don't even know how you remember." At this Hermione started blushing, anything that Harry had ever said to her, she had stored away in her brain for future reference.

"Well, I do know him better like that, so I would be happy to join you and I am quite hungry. So, let's go shall we?" Hermione took Ron's arm and started leading him towards the door. She didn't even know why she was flirting with Ron after all she did like Harry. She hoped Ron wouldn't think much into it although she had a sneaking suspicion that he liked her. During classes she caught him staring at her, and he always blushed whenever they spoke. Many people in the dormitory stared as they walked out of the room arm in arm. Dean and Seamus were gaping open mouthed at them and as they walked out of the room Ron could have sworn he heard Dean telling Seamus, "Man, when did he hook up with her? Do you remember what she looked like fourth year at the Yule Ball? She was looking good, I wouldn't mind hooking up with her. Though, I think Harry's got his eye on her, so I don't really stand a chance! Oops, I don't think I was supposed to say that with Hermione so close." At these words both Ron and Hermione started blushing. Ron was blushing because people thought that he and Hermione were dating, but he was a little confused to find that Harry liked Hermione, why hadn't he told him? Because you would get really jealous and you might get into a fight with him over Hermione if you knew, a small voice said in the back of his head. Hermione, on the other hand was delighted to find that Harry did like her. She resolved to consult Lavender about how to talk to Harry about how she felt. So, when she and Ron walked into the great hall they did indeed look like they were dating because they were arm in arm and both of them had flushed beaming faces, though neither of them noticed because they were both daydreaming about other people.

"Well, Harry likes cinnamon bagels, but from what I remember he dislikes cream cheese, so if we want, we could toast it and put some butter on it so that he's not eating a plain bagel. I have a feeling that we are all going to need our strength for Snape's class. I just know that he's cooked up something especially hard for our class. I was so excited when I found out that all three of us made it into Snape's N.E.W.T class. I was really surprised at Harry, I mean you don't think he cheated or anything do you? No, of course not, what am I thinking? Oh, well, RON…. what are you doing, I told you that Harry hates cream-cheese so why are you spreading it all over his bagel?" Hermione practically yelled this at Ron, making heads turn all along the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.

"This is **_my_** bagel Hermione, contrary to popular belief I do eat, and if you had even looked you would have noticed that Harry's bagel is toasting right now like you told me to do. Geez, freak out why don't ya, but if you're going to please don't do it here cause people are staring at us!" Ron said this and looked around as if to say 'Well, what are you staring at, there's nothing to see here', seeing the look on Ron's face was enough to make people go back to chatting with their friends and eating their food.

"That's fine and dandy but I just want Harry to have his strength, he's been a little off color lately and I really want to know what's been bothering him. I think he'll come round eventually and tell us what's up, but for now I think we should just leave him be." Hermione said this with no sign that she noticed that Ron had gotten his feelings hurt and stayed dreaming about Harry.

"Aren't you even going to apologize to me, you yelled at me in front of all these people and now you're just spacing out on me! Mione, are you OK, you're not on any kind of drug are you?" As Ron said the latter he lowered his voice so that no one could hear him.

"Of course not, don't be silly. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you, it's just that I'm really worried about Harry, but then again so are you. Do you forgive me?" Hermione said this in a sincere voice but Ron could tell that she really did have her mind on other things.

"What kind of ass do you take me for, of course I forgive you. We should hurry up though otherwise we'll be late for class. Bloody hell, do you know what time it is?" As Ron looked around while buttering Harry's bagel he didn't see any kids left in the great hall, although there were a few stragglers staggering out into the hallway. While he and Hermione had been arguing, apparently the bell had rang signaling to get ready for class, and everybody had already left.

"Oh My Gosh! We're going to be late for potions class, and we still need to get our essays, give Harry his food, and wake him up!" Hermione was already running for the door as she said this. Her long hair was blowing behind her, and Ron stood their for a minute just staring at her when he suddenly realized why she was running, grabbed his and Harry's food, and dashed after her. When they reached the common room, Ron and Hermione parted ways and went into their own dormitories.

Ron blew through the door and immediately regretted this because Harry was fast asleep. He was sleeping so peacefully that Ron decided not to wake him up even though class was due to start in about 5 minutes. He searched for Harry's essay and found it lying under a picture of Hermione in his trunk. In the picture she was wearing a small pink bikini. From the look on her face, although she was smiling, you could tell that the picture had been a surprise to her. She was really tan and the tan accentuated her perfectly flat stomach. She was also wearing matching pink flip flops, and there was a beautiful view of the beach behind her. She was running carelessly onto the sandy white beach and her long brown-golden hair was highlighted from the sun and blowing behind her. The waters were the clearest blue and made her look all the more dazzling when contrasted against them. Even though the scenery was gorgeous Ron was much more interested in looking at Hermione. Ron picked up Harry's essay and his own and left with four minutes left till Snape would give Ron a detention for showing up late for class. As he arrived in the dungeon familiar faces were also filing into the dungeon. Because Harry wasn't there Ron decided to sit next to Hermione. When he glanced at her he saw her smile and his mind flickered back to the picture that he just saw of her. The last thought that entered his mind before class started was 'Why does Harry have a picture of Hermione like that? Does she even know about it?'



"Geez that was a great class to bring us back into the scheme of school again. I mean the first day of school he gives us an essay due a month after it's assigned, but now that we've turned that in, Snape feels as though we can average an essay a week!" Dean stammered, barely able to contain himself. Apparently Snape had given them another essay even though they had just turned one in.

"But you have to admit that last essay was pretty cool, I mean what teacher would make you research a potion that gets rid of hangovers. I guess he figures that since we're 16 we're bound to drink at least once this year, and maybe he wanted to help at least a little. Come on are you guys telling me that you're not going to drink at all this year?" Ron had said this because everyone was looking at him with goody-two-shoes looks. "I know that you are not all that good. My mom knew that this was the year that most people are introduced to drinking and told me not to drink, but aren't parents supposed to say that? Well, Fred and George saw me off at the platform this year and before I loaded the train they filled my trunk with firewhiskey. Apparently their business has been booming so they thought they'd treat me. It's been hell this year trying to not let anybody smell it on me. I had to wash my robes at least 3 times before the smell finally wore off. I think that on the train one of the bottles spilled on my robes and that's why it took so long to get the damn smell out. Fred and George said that this year is the best time to drink. Any younger and it would've been unhealthy to drink and next year we take the N.E.W.T's!" Ron said this while staring at the other guys as if not believing that they were refusing alcohol. Harry finally woke up and the first thing he did was look at the clock.

"Bloody hell, I missed class. I bet Snape was livid!" Looking around the room, he saw the boys staring at him with weird expressions as though they had just noticed that he was there. "So what did I miss? It was probably all shit anyway, so I don't really care. Although, I hope Snape accepts my essay even though it's late. You do think he'll take don't you?" Harry asked this to Ron as if Ron had the power to make Snape accept late essays.

"Of course he'll take it. I mean what the hell am I saying, I already turned it in for you and believe you me he was quite suspicious. That is, even more suspicious than usual. I told him that you weren't feeling too well and that's why you weren't attending class. Hermione flipped out though, she started freaking because she thought you were sick. Honestly that woman has nothing better to do than freak out over smallest little things. I mean you aren'tweren't even sick. I hope you don't mind me telling a little white lie on your behalf, right?" Ron innocently responded.

"Well of course I don't mind you lying to Snape, but he's going to think that I was being even lazier than usual." said Harry.

"Are you coming to Charms? I daresay Flitwick will let you off, although right now we're reviewing. Remember last week he told us that he wants the charms fresh in our mind so that we can learn new ones. These new ones that we are learning are based off the old ones so we have to have those ones down. Today wouldn't be a very good class to miss Harry, I think you should come." Ron said.

"Yeah, I know, I'm definitely coming to class anyway because if I know Hermione half as well as I think I do, she'll yell at me if I miss more than one class in a day. I feel a lot better anyway now that I got sleep and don't have to face the prospect of being in Snape's presence for an hour and a half. Yeah, that just made my day!" Harry said.

"Speaking of Hermionewhy do you have…never mind…" Ron interrupted. He was about to ask Harry about the picture he had of Hermione but then thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.

"What was that you were saying? Oh well, oh…damn, class starts in 45 minutes, huh? Do you still have that bagel I asked you for earlier, before Snape's class? If you do have it then could I have it please cause man am I starving. I just realized, I haven't eaten since 7 last night." Harry was rambling.

"Well, yeah, I do still have the bagel. And if you had even bothered to look you would've seen that it's been sitting on your bed stand the whole time. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound so irritable but our stupid potions class killed me. Snape's out to get me. Since you weren't there he decided to vent his bottled anger out on me. It was so horrible, we were making some retarded potion and anyway it was supposed to be pink and thick. Guess what my potion looked like?" Ron asked. Without even waiting for Harry to make a guess, he answered. "It was green and runny. You can't even imagine how the entire class laughed at me. I was sitting next to Hermione and I still failed. God, I hate that man with a passion!" As Ron was ranting Harry was being silently pleased with himself that he fell asleep and missed an obviously repulsive class.

"Well, that sucks, but what about my bagel?" Harry asked this completely ignorant to the fact that he was being rude.

"Again, it's sitting on your bed stand and I wouldn't eat it cause it might be stale. It's been there for more than an hour. But if you do eat it and get sick, remember you can't blame me because I advised you not to."

"Yeah, yeah, I won't eat it so you don't have to worry. I'm just so bloody hungry that I could eat about anything except maybe bouillabaisse. That stuff tastes just like it looks, disgusting. You know we could always just go down to the kitchens and get the house-elves to feed us. I'm almost positive they won't mind. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Dobby or Winky in a while. Ron, are you up for that mate?" Harry had been mumbling to himself but then he remembered that he had been talking to Ron.

"Sure, those éclairs are so good, and for some reason I'm craving some butter beer." Ron agreed to go.

"It's settled then, let's go!" Harry decided. They both got up and left. The other boys were at a compete loss as to what just took place. As soon as Ron and Harry left the dormitory they sprinted all the way to the kitchens laughing and not knowing why.



Hermione was sitting on Lavender's bed chatting about how she should go about confronting Harry about the love letter that he had so obviously sent to her.

"I just don't know how to make the first move" Hermione said thoughtfully, "I mean, I don't want to seem to forward or to aggressive, but if I don't do much then Harry might not think that I like him as much as I do. Or worse he might think I'm prude!" She added the latter as an afterthought. Hermione started to beat her fists onto the bed as she was becoming more and more anxious about her soon to be confrontation with Harry. "I mean it would help so much if he wasn't good-looking, then I wouldn't get so nervous around him. Now that _Professor_ Umbridge is gone, ohh that stupid woman I can't believe that Dumbledore actually rescued her…." Hermione's voice became softer as she began muttering incoherently about how much she hated Dolores Umbridge. "Where was I?" Hermione had obviously realized what she had been doing as she gazed onto Lavender's now puzzled face. "Oh yeah, well now that Harry's back on the Quidditch team he's gotten in shape again and oh does he look delicious. The other day when I was in the common room he came back from practice and was soaking wet so he was stripping on his way to the showers and he's got a six pack and he's all muscle. I can't stand looking at him because I have to restrain myself from jumping him. It's because I'm so good at potions that I can handle being so close to him all of the time."

"What's that supposed to mean? What do potions have anything to do with Harry? Doesn't he like totally suck at potions? Oh, when we got our exam results over the summer my mom got kind off ticked off at me because I only got an E in potions. So now I can't do potions anymore, but it's not like I really wanted to anyway. I mean we all know what Snape is like; he's an ass that favors Malfoy over everybody else. I bet you that he's the only one that could have gotten an O that did, besides you of course." Lavender said this because she didn't want Hermione to think that she thought little of her. Hermione's brain was all in a jumble as she tried to figure out all of the answers to the many questions that she was just asked.

"Firstly, I use a calming drought right before I see Harry so that I don't get like this when I'm around him." She pointed at herself and Lavender could see why she needed a calming drought before she saw Harry. She was only _talking about _him and she was breathing heavily, jumpy and her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head. She didn't look at all like she usually did. "Sadly, Harry does suck at potions but surprisingly enough he got an O on his potions O.W.L, so Malfoy wasn't the only one to get an O either. But that wasn't what we were talking about, were we? Oh, I still don't know what to do! And I have to answer the love letter some how otherwise he might just give up hope on me won't he?" She asked Lavender as though she could figure out an answer for her crisis in seconds. Lavender and Hermione sat uninterrupted thinking for a few minutes. All of a sudden Lavender started speaking as though unsure of what she was saying.

"Umm…well…you could…no that's stupid…never mind " Lavender muttered this very fast and looked as though she wished she hadn't started saying anything at all. But despite this Hermione pounced on her to make her spill what she was going to say.

"Oh come on tell me what you were thinking…even if it sounds stupid to you, I'm probably going to like it, I mean it's me. I'm so desperate, please." As she said please she did a puppy dog pout and looked so helpless that Lavender decided to tell Hermione her idea. She leaned across the bed and began whispering the idea into her ear. She didn't even know why she was whispering but she was doing it all the same. She began to smile as she elaborated the idea and saw that Hermione was nodding and smiling herself.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Hermione said as she faced Lavender.


	2. In the Room of Requirement

**CHAPTER TWO-IN THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT**

"So you just got a letter that said to meet you in the Room of Requirement at 8 p.m tonight? Well, are going to go?" Ron asked Harry.

"Yeah, I 'spose." He was trying to sound casual and indifferent. Inside he was having butterflies in his stomach. He desperately hoped that the person he was meeting was Hermione. He had loved her for so long and he only wished that he could do something to show her but he didn't have enough courage. I mean he'd rather duel Lord Voldemort than confess his love to the girl of his dreams. Okay, well maybe not duel with the most evil wizard of all time but he'd rather do a lot of things that tell Hermione how he felt about her. He thought that she just thought of him as a friend and if ruined that he would never be able to live with himself. He didn't know what he would do if the person that he was going to meet wasn't Hermione. Come to think of it he didn't even know what he would do if the person was Hermione. He wouldn't know how to act. Almost as if Ron had read his mind about not knowing who it was he said…

"You know, I reckon you could just look on the Marauder's map and see who it is to see if you want to meet them or not. And if not then you could just pretend like you didn't get a note at all."

"Yeah I could but the person from the note asked me not to use anything to figure out who it is. They said that they want to surprise me, and I think it would be a betrayal of trust if I look."

"Oh, well you know it was just a suggestion you don't have to get all honorable and honest-like on me. If you are going to meet this person tonight then I suggest we get working on Snape's essay."

"But I wasn't even in class today! Snape's probably not going to let me use that as an excuse though, so I might as well do it. You know, even though I'm putting in extra effort by doing homework that I wasn't assigned he's not going to notice and is still going to mark me off even if I write a perfect essay." Harry was complaining to Ron. They sat working for hours on Snape's essay. Although they were absorbed in the complexity of their essays they both noticed Hermione leave the common room carrying a bag full of stuff. She was trying to be inconspicuous but not doing a very good job. Right before she went through the door she turned around and gave a meaningful glance at Harry before hurrying out of their view. Right after this Harry looked at the clock and found that it was 7:30, so he figured that in order to not be late he might want to finish up his thought and go get ready. He was about to tell Ron that he had to leave when Ron interrupted him.

"What do you think that was about?" Ron asked Harry.

"What was what about?" Harry answered looking confused. He thought that Ron was referring to him looking at the clock.

"Hermione" He said simply.

"Oh that, she was probably surprised that we were actually doing work without her to help us. Well, she doesn't really help us I mean we usually just copy from her." Harry replied.

Yeah, that's probably what it was." Ron said looking very disconcerted.

"Sorry to have to leave you so soon, but in order to not to be late, I'm going to have to leave you about now. I mean I have to get ready and everything, you know how it is when you meet girls and all." Harry said, then as an afterthought he added, "Well, I suppose it is a girl that I'm meeting, don't you?" He directed this question at Ron. "I don't know what kind of boy would ask me to meet them in a secret room at night. I mean I don't come off as gay do I?" He again directed the question at Ron as if he could really answer it.

"Hey mate, don't ask me these things. But of course, I don't think you are gay because no offense man but I wouldn't hang out with you anymore if you were. I'm really shallow and I'm sad to admit it but it's true." Ron said this while glancing at Harry as though questioning if he was really gay or not. Then coming to common sense he realized that he couldn't possibly be gay because Harry kissed a girl and he had liked it. I mean what was the deal with Cho Chang anyway? Didn't they go out or something like that? And then he remembered all the rows that they had and that was the reason why they weren't still going out. So after giving it some thought he decided that Harry was not gay after all.

"Don't worry; I'm not gay if that's what you were thinking. But I gotta go, see ya later!" Harry said grinning at Ron. Harry ran off towards his dormitory without giving Ron a chance to even say good-bye. As soon as Harry got reached the door of the dormitory he stopped running. He began rummaging through his trunk to find the Marauder's Map. When he finally found it he stood there for a moment thinking about whether or not he should look and see who it was that he was about to meet. Right as he was opening the map Ron walked into the room.

"Well, that essays a pain in the you-know-what, and I just can't concentrate without either you or Hermione there to help me." Ron voiced this while throwing his school bag on top of his bed. Then he looked at Harry holding the Marauder's Map half open and quickly snatched it from him. "Whatever happened to being all honorable and not looking at the map because that would be cheating and disrespecting that persons' feelings?" Ron asked quite appalled that Harry was going to look.

"I just really want to know who it is! Don't you want you want to know? I mean what if it is Malfoy waiting there and he's going to hex me as soon as I get into the room? Do you really want me to get hurt?" He asked the latter to give himself more of a case to bargain with. Ron however wasn't to give in.

"Harry I can't believe that you lied to me. You told me that you would never look because that would not be fair, and then I find you up here looking at the map. I'm not going to let you look at this; I on the other hand will look at it." Ron taunted.

"What that's so not fair. It's my map after all, so I think I'm entitled to look at it whenever I very well please. Thank you very much." He then made a swipe at Ron to try and get the map back but Ron's keeper skills were vastly improved from the previous year and so he was too fast for Harry.

"Ahh, come on, can't you let me have at least a little peek?" Harry pleaded after many attempts at snatching the map.

"No, I still can't believe you." Ron took the map holding it up high above his head and left the dormitory in a huff. The silence in the room was unbelievable and Harry was left all alone to get ready for his meeting with a person that he didn't know. He then decided that Ron was never going to give in with the map seeing as how he left the room. Going through his trunk again he found what he was looking for, what he thought as the perfect clothes. When he finally put them on and looked at the full body mirror that was in their dormitory's bathroom he thought that he looked pretty good. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt that accentuated his slim body and his six-pack. Then for his bottom half he was wearing light blue hip hugger Levi jeans with white whiskers and black sneakers. His hair though untidy as it always was completed the outfit and made him look all the more popular, smart, handsome boy that he was. As he walked down the steps into the common room he saw a lot of the girls staring longingly at him. To his surprise Hermione was nowhere to be seen, which made his heart flutter as the thought occurred to him that it really might be Hermione that he was going to meet. He walked out of the common room to the disappointment to many of the girls lingering there. He started walking briskly once he got out of there. This was the first time that he fully appreciated how many girls liked him and were in awe of him. Walking through the corridors he felt pretty good, a girl (he hoped) had sent him a letter to meet him in a secret room at night. This was every guys dream. But then he stopped and thought about it. There was only girl that he wanted to see in that room and he didn't mean to sound cocky but a lot of girls did like him. The show back in the common room had shown him that so once again he was beginning to feel nervous about how he was going to act around this person and why they wanted to meet him in secret. He reached the door of the Room of Requirement without turning back or vomiting. With much anticipation he opened the door and was surprised. The room was dark as if no one was there and it had all been a joke. Feeling like a dork he turned around to leave but then turned back around when he heard a person breathing in the far corner of the room.

"Lumos" he said while turning around. The light miraculously illuminated almost the entire room. The floor was covered with pink confetti and all over the walls were little hearts with the letters H.G ♥ H.P. Harry was really confused, what was that supposed to mean. Thinking about it for a minute he realized that it could be Hermione Granger loves Harry Potter. His heart fluttered and then he looked around again and saw Hermione standing in the center of the room with a flirtatious smile accompanied by a flirtatious outfit. Her top was a tight light pink halter that accented her slim fit body and she was wearing a dark blue mini skirt. These were accompanied by small light pink high heels. Half concealed in her temporarily straight hair were a pair of studded rose quartz earrings. With her standing there in the middle of the room Harry didn't know what to do. She looked so un-Hermione like that Harry wasn't quite sure that it was her or not. Then he looked again and saw that it really was her. Harry was so surprised that it was Hermione that was in the room that he didn't say anything but just stood with his mouth open gaping like an idiot. When he realized what he was doing he closed his mouth and tried talking to her. He cleared his throat.

"Umm…so…" he tried.

"Don't talk, I have a song that I want to sing for you." she interrupted quickly. It seemed to Harry that she said it fast because if she said it any slower than she wouldn't be able to say it at all. As soon as she started singing Harry realized that he had never before heard Hermione sing. He was saddened by the fact that he had never heard her sing for she had the most beautiful voice that he had ever heard and forever more he would compare everyone's singing with hers. The song that she was singing was one that he recognized. He couldn't place where it was from, but then when it got to the chorus he remembered where he'd heard it. It was the long song from Titanic-My Heart Will Go On.

_Every night in my dreams I see you, I feel you._

_That is how I know you go on._

_Far across the distance and spaces between us_

_You have come to show you go on._

_Near, far, wherever you are_

_I believe that the heart does go on._

_Once more, you open the door_

_And you're here in my heart,_

_And my heart will go on and on._

_Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime._

_And never let go till we're gone._

_Love was when I loved you one true time I hold to._

_In my life we'll always go on._

_Near, far, wherever you are_

_I believe that the heart does go on._

_Once more, you open the door_

_And you're here in my heart,_

_And my heart will go on and on._

_You're here, there's nothing I fear._

_And I know that my heart will go on._

_We'll stay forever this way,_

_You are safe in my heart,_

_And my heart will go on._

As the last notes of the song faded away Hermione stood staring at Harry with an embarrassed but determined look on her face. Harry again didn't know what to say. But he was set on breaking the silence. He was all in a dither because he still couldn't get over the fact that Hermione liked him and just confessed it to him.

"You know you could have just told me that you liked me and that would have been fine." Harry said this and immediately regretted it. He realized that this was quite the wrong thing to say because Hermione looked as though she was about to burst into tears. Harry tried to compose himself and make the situation a little bit better. "I mean, I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant to say." He wasn't finding the right words when suddenly he just burst out with it. "Hermione I really like you and I'm really glad that you had the courage to do this for me because I would never have the courage to do this." When Harry said this, she felt that it confirmed that he had indeed wrote her the love letter, for the letter had mentioned something like this.

"Did you like the song?" Hermione was trying to take it slow and she was trying to give Harry some time to think.

"Yeah, it was great, you have such a beautiful voice, you should try──"

But Hermione would never know Harry thought she should try because she couldn't take the waiting anymore and had flung herself on him. She had jumped him in a way that he had been flung to the floor with him in top of her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that…no wait, actually I did. I just hope that I didn't hurt you." Hermione said. She was out of breath from jumping on top of him.

"It's fine. To tell you the truth I've been waiting for the day when you would pin me to the ground." He said nervously. Harry was failing at attempting to laugh. He was just too nervous to go through with anything. Hermione was so close to him. He could see wrinkles creasing on her forehead as she wondered if she was being too enthusiastic. Just as she was about to get up Harry pulled her closer to him and began kissing her.

Upstairs in the boys' dormitory Ron sat on his bed watching the Marauder's Map with a furious gaze. Staring at the map he saw that Hermione was the one that wanted to meet Harry, and as the night progressed he saw that their dots were moving closer and closer together. When Ron figured out that they must be kissing he threw the map down angrily and jumped under his bed covers.


	3. Fury

**CHAPTER THREE-FURY**

Ron was still fuming when he woke up the next morning. All the other boys were still asleep and when Ron glanced at the clock on the wall he instantly knew why. The clock read 5:43 a.m! Their first class wasn't supposed to start for another two hours and 17 minutes exactly. Ron tried to get back to sleep but images of Harry and Hermione kissing kept entering his head. Giving up on the fact that he wasn't going to be able to get any sleep, he crept downstairs. The fire had already been started even though nobody was awake, and so he sat down in one of the chairs near the fire and began wallowing in self pity.

"I just can't believe that Harry would betray me like this. Wait, he would only be betraying me if I had told him that I liked Hermione. But, how was I supposed to know that Harry liked her also, or maybe he's just pretending to like her. I can't believe that he would do something like that. How could he do something like that to my Hermione? Oh what am I thinking she's not my Hermione, she's Harry's Hermione and I'm going to have to pretend that I don't care otherwise I'll have nobody. I've never been one to take things lying down. What am I going to do?" Ron said this to himself while bringing his hands up to face.

"Are you okay there buddy?" a voice said from behind him. Ron whipped his head around so fast that he got a crick in his neck. While rubbing his neck he recognized Neville.

What are you doing down here so early in the morning Neville, don't you ever sleep?" Ron asked. He was still mad but he didn't mean to sound so irritable in front of people that weren't Harry or Hermione.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing! And yes, I do sleep I just came down here because class is going to start soon and I have to finish my homework." Neville said.

"It's not time for class to start. When I got down here it was about 5:45, and it couldn't possibly have been more than an hour since I got down here." Ron said looking confused.

"Why the hell did you get up that early? If you've been down here since then, then you've definitely been down here for more than an hour. It's almost 7:30. To tell you the truth I can't believe that there is nobody else in here with us. I mean everybody has class first hour so unless everybody's going to skive off then I wonder where they are. I'm surprised at Hermione the most though because she never misses a class." Neville said this without thinking about what he was saying. At the mention of Hermione though Ron got out of his chair and began to leave the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Neville asked as he saw Ron leaving.

"To the library, and don't ever to talk about Hermione in front of me again, I don't even want to hear her name anymore." Ron said this and then headed out of the room and had no choice but to go to the library. "Well, at least I can get some work done. Since I couldn't get much of Snape's essay done yesterday I might as well do it now when I have books to tell me all of the answers." Ron thought about his and then realized that this was how Hermione always was the top of every class. She was in the library all the bloody time so she just read every damn book until she knew everything about everything. Ron resolved to study in the library more often so that his mom would know that he was working to keep his grades up. 'Maybe then she won't send those bloody owls every week.' He thought to himself. 'And', he thought, 'the library is a sort of quiet safe place where I can just be by myself and Hermione isn't going to be in here much because she's going to be to busy with Harry'. When Ron arrived at the library he tried to go in the door but Madame Pince shooed him out saying that the library was closed and if he really wanted to he could come back later on during second hour when the library actually opened. Thinking that it was better to go to his first class then go back to the common room and have to see Harry and Hermione he left for his first class.

"What's my first class again?" he asked himself, diving through his bag looking for his schedule.

"Don't have a good memory do you, eh? Isn't it already two months into the term and you still don't know your classes? In my day we all knew our places and classes and we weren't the reckless people that you youngsters are today." A portrait that had been watching him decided that it was time to say something to him.

"Shove off, will ya!" Ron said and then ran off towards the transfiguration room. Ron ran so fast that he got to the room 15 minutes before class was due to start. He was so early that Professor McGonagall wasn't even there. About a minute after he arrived though she walked into the room looking a little disheveled that there was a student in her classroom before she even got there.

"Mr. Weasley, what are you doing in my classroom so early? You and Mr. Potter usually arrive late and then goof off all the time that are actually in my classroom. Well, I guess I shouldn't yell at you if you are trying to make an extra effort in my classroom. That is what you were doing wasn't it?" She said this as if daring Ron to say something else.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I was doing. Actually my mum keeps sending me these owls every week telling me to do all my work and turn it in on time, so I'm starting to realize that it might be good to actually take her advice. That's why I arrived so early in here because I hoped that I would find you for some advice on what we're working on today. You did say that we were going to go over transfiguring flamingos into coat racks didn't you?" Ron waited for her to nod before beginning again. "Well, I've been working on it but I just can't get the hang of it."

"Well," she looked at the clock, "we have 10 minutes before people are going to start arriving so let me see what you can do." She then walked over to the corner of the room grabbed one of the many coat racks cluttering it and changed it into a flamingo. Ron just stood gaping.

"How did you that?" he asked. Then remembering that she was the teacher knew that was a really stupid question.

"Years of practice Mr. Weasley. Now I want you to try to change this into a _decent_ coat rack. I remember the last time you tried this it would run away every time somebody tried to hang a coat." She said with an amused look on her face.

"I'll try. Contes Vestites" Ron said with a flick of the wand. Apparently this wasn't the right spell because when it hit the bird, it squawked in fright and began running around the room.

"Mr. Weasley, do you ever listen to me in my classes? Now I know why the charm wasn't working for you. You're saying the wrong words. It's Cont_us _Vestit_us _not Cont_es_ Vestit_es_. Now try again and please say the words correctly or I shall have to let you suffer with my great displeasure."

"Well, can you catch the bird at least so that I can do the spell on it and not in something else?" Ron asked

"No, this should be a good time to practice you're charms work, let's see you summon the bird." Professor McGonagall said aware that she was now torturing Ron.

"Accio" Ron said and the bird came flying at him. Right as he caught it the bird began trying to run away again so he froze it with the 'Immobilize' charm.

"Very good Mr. Weasley, at least you pay attention in your charms class if not in my own."

"Can you just give it a rest and let me try?"

"Why of course, what's stopping you?" Professor McGonagall said as if she had not been disrupting him.

"Contus Vestitus" he said really hoping that the charm would work. He was about to say that he was stupid and sorry for disrupting her when the bird abruptly began to transform. Slowly but surely the flamingo changed in to bright pink coat rack.

"Well, that really is an improvement Mr. Weasley. This time you actually turned it successfully into a coat rack. You were doubting yourself though and because you didn't say the spell with enough enthusiasm the color didn't change. All the same you did well and I fee l that I have to reward you. So, I award Gryffindor ten points. Since you did so well, I'm going to write to your mother and tell her about this improvement in your study skills. This hopefully will take care of the owl problems; I know that they can be kind of messy." She said this last bit in an undertone because she didn't like discussing gross things. At this point many of the students had been filing into the room and were staring at Ron wondering why he was having a private chat with Professor McGonagall. 30 seconds after the bell rang Harry and Hermione ran into the classroom looking around wildly as people were laughing at them trying to find their seats.

"Mrs. Granger, I'm surprised at you. You have never been late to my class before and I expect better behavior from you in the future. And you Mr. Potter, since this is the first time that you have been under 5 minutes late to my class I guess I should be thanking you. Now kindly take your seats." She said this because the entire time that she had been talking to them they had still been standing.

"Well, as I said the last time we saw each other, we are going to be transfiguring flamingos into coat racks. Who would like to demonstrate this? Ah, Mr. Potter thank you for volunteering." Harry who had just been stretching looked around for something that could try and get him out of it.

"Mr. Potter, do you remember the incantation?"

"Well, not exactly, what is it again?" Harry said looking rather embarrassed.

"Who here knows it?" Hermione was raising her hand as usual but this time Professor McGonagall was blatantly ignoring it. "Mr. Weasley I know that you know how to do this as you demonstrated it for me not even five minutes ago."

"All right" he said, and then began looking around for the bird. As soon as it was in his sight he said the spell. "Cantus Vestitus". This time as soon as the words left his mouth the bird changed into a coat rack. This time the coat rack was the right color.

"So the Weaselbee can transfigure things, that's a big surprise seeing as is dad is the biggest loser I've met. And his mother, not very good genes he's got so how can he transfigure anything at all? If he could then why doesn't he change his house so that his family doesn't all have to sleep in what is it? One room!" Malfoy said this as he staggered into the room. As he approached his seat, he saw that Goyle had taken it. Looking around again he saw that the only seat that was open was the one right next to Ron.

"Mr. Malfoy kindly take your seat. If you are going to arrive late without an excuse then do not talk as you are entering my classroom. Also, I'm going to have to take five points away from Slytherin for blatantly harassing one of my students." Professor McGonagall's look quickly changed from appraisal from Ron's successful transfiguration to grim as she told Malfoy off. Malfoy looking around once more saw that he had no choice but to sit next to Ron.

"What's going on Weaselbee? Why aren't you sitting with your freaky friends, the potty and the mudblood? Are you not good enough for them anymore?" Malfoy being deprived out of his usual seat decided that with his new seat he could make Ron's life more miserable.

"I am too still friends with them; there just isn't a seat next to them that I can sit in. And why aren't you sitting with your friends, are you not good enough for them?" Ron said to Malfoy. 'Why did I just tell Malfoy that I am still friends with Harry and Hermione? I don't want to have anything to do with them. Yeah, well I don't want Malfoy to know that because then he'll make my life more of a living hell than usual. I just have to be extra careful whenever I'm around him'. Ron thought this in his head while Malfoy continued to talk to him.

"So Weaselbee, how do you think you're going to do in the Quidditch match tomorrow? You should have your bed booked in the hospital because Goyle has sworn to knock you off your broom! Although maybe if you're lucky then the Potty can save you like he usually does when you're about to suffer humiliating defeat." Malfoy whispered this in Ron's ear so as to torment him more.

"Mr. Malfoy, I told you once already do not talk in my classroom. I am going to dock 5 more points from Slytherin. If I see you talking again I will dock 50 points and give you a week's detention. Now be quiet and pay attention." She spoke directly to Malfoy then faced the class again and began to address them. "Sorry for that interruption" she looked at Malfoy again, "now, as I said we are going to practice transfiguring flamingos into coat racks. You have now seen what is supposed to happen and you've heard the incantation so you should be able to produce the proper effects. I do not have enough flamingos for everyone so we will be pairing up with the people sitting directly next to you." She then proceeded to pass out the flamingos to people. "Interesting choice for a partner, Mr. Weasley." She said as she passed Malfoy and him their flamingo. She then tilted her glasses down to look Ron right in the eye.

"I didn't really have choice in having him as a partner as you very well know."

"Yeah, do you thing I would've sat next to Weaselbee if I didn't have to?" Malfoy said agreeing with him. "Now go on back to teaching, you're wasting our parents tax dollars." Professor McGonagall looked much agitated at the way that Malfoy was speaking to her but she went on doing her work pretending that Malfoy hadn't said anything to her. As soon as she had finished giving every pair in the class a flamingo she said, "Begin". Immediately the words "Cantus Vestitus" began to fill the room. Neville who as usual wasn't very good at anything was paired up with the unfortunate Dean. It was Neville's turn to try and transfigure it and he mistakenly changed Dean's arms into coat poles.

"Ahhhh, what's happening to me?" Dean screamed as he watched his body begin to transform.

"Stop screaming Mr. Thomas or I may just leave you permanently like that." Dean stopped screaming and quieted so that his teacher could sort him out. While Dean had calmed down, Malfoy had broken out in laughter. Through fits of giggles he spoke to Dean.

"You scream…like…a girl…You should…be used to it…by now…don't you think? I mean…every time…you pair up with him…and every time…he screws up…" he then stopped laughing and became serious. "But then again with parents like he's got, with their brains addled and all, you can't expect much more can you?" Malfoy said this to a silenced crowd. He didn't notice and turned around to high five his friends.

"How dare you Mr. Malfoy, get out of my classroom right now. I will be talking to Professor Snape about this. You now will have to serve a detention with me and 50 points are now gone from Slytherin. If anybody asks about it tell them that it's your fault for not being able to control your never-ceasing tongue." There was even more silence as Malfoy walked out of the room.

"Mr. Longbottom you will stay after class with to have a chat with me. Class is now dismissed." The class filed out of the classroom quietly wondering why they were being dismissed 45 before class was supposed to end.

"That was an easy class. I mean I only had to try it once so I didn't feel too much like a fool." Harry said to Hermione as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Well that's good for you but I didn't even get to try once. You insisted on going first so now I don't get practice at all. If only Professor McGonagall didn't ask Neville to stay after class then I would have gone to her and asked if I could have tried it at least once. God that stupid Malfoy, I can't believe him. He knows that Neville's parents are…like they are…and he doesn't have any consideration at all."

"Hermione did you actually think that Malfoy would care about that. He's just pissed at the world right now because his dad is in Azkaban. And anyway, the last time we did this spell you got it on the first try so what are you worrying about?" He said and then in a mock hurt tone he said. "Would you really rather hang out with Professor McGonagall and do more work than hang out with me?"

"Of course not Harry, I would much rather hang out with you. I can do much more fun things with you than with our teacher and by last night you should now what I mean."

"What did you guys do last night?" Lavender who had been listening to their conversation couldn't help but butting in.

"Nothing, I mean we only kissed, but Harry here is a fabulous kisser." She said and then patted Harry on the chest.

"Can you keep a secret Lavender?" She said in an undertone so that nobody could hear her.

"Oh, yes what is it?" she said in an excited voice.

"Me and Harry have decided to go out!" Hermione said blushingly.

"You're going out already!" Lavender said this rather loudly and then looked around as people were staring at her. "I can't believe that Samantha and Tom have already decided to go out I mean they've only just gotten to know each other really well, these past few weeks." Lavender said trying to cover up for what she just did. People apparently seemed to buy her story and began walking again talking about the new couple that Lavender had just made up.

"Thanks Lavender, now people will know that we're going out. But thanks for trying to cover up for us anyway. We were going to take it slow so that people could get used to the idea of us going out but now I guess we don't have to do that." Hermione then proceeded to grab Harry's hand and walk away again. Just as they were walking away Malfoy came up.

"Did I really hear what I think I heard? Samantha is really going with Tom? That took forever. Make sure that you don't say that around Crabbe though or he will be pissed off; he's liked her for so long. But then again I would have lost all respect for her if she had went out with him, I mean look at him. But anyway good day, tell Longbottom I said hi." Malfoy said this with a smirk on his face.

"So there really are people named Tom and Samantha that like each other? Wow, I totally thought you made that up." Hermione said laughing.

"I did make that up though!" Lavender said looking slightly confused.

"Well than you must be physic or something." Harry said to Lavender.

"Yeah, maybe to you, but not to Firenze. He keeps telling us that we can never see into the future like they the centaurs can. I don't why I am still taking that class; I mean I haven't learned anything in it. I mean although Firenze thinks that Professor Trelawney was teaching badly and that she couldn't really see into the future, I actually thought I was learning things. With Firenze he tells us that we aren't learning anything and that he knows we won't because we are humans and we don't posses the right type of mind for Divination. It's a load of crap." Looking disgusted she started walking away.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked. "I thought she fancied Firenze. Remember how last year she said that I should have kept Divination as one of subjects because the teacher was gorgeous? Wasn't that her or am I just imagining things because my head is swimming with thoughts of you?" Hermione said this and then began blushing. She was not used to being able to express her feelings to Harry. I mean they only just started going out. Just then she spotted Ron glancing at her with a very saddened look in his eye. She smiled at him and waved him over. As soon as he noticed that she had seen him looking at her his look changed from longing to fury and he started running in the opposite direction.

"What was that about?" Hermione asked with a confused look on her face. She was talking about Ron's behavior, but Harry was thinking otherwise.

"Yeah, I most definitely remember her being in love with Firenze, oh well I guess girls are weird like that. With the exception of you of course, you are just perfect." Hermione just waved this last bit off with a small wave of her hand.

"I was just talking about… oh never mind, it doesn't really matter."

"Hey, do you know where Ron has got to? I know that he arrived early to class and then sat with Malfoy, I never knew that he would do that willingly. I've been thinking about this for a while and I was wondering whether we should tell Ron, I mean I don't want him to feel like a third wheel, but then again I don't want to leave him completely in the dark, after all he is our best friend and he has a right to know."

"For a while, you mean since yesterday?" Hermione said with a smile.

"You know what I mean." Harry said feeling stupid. "I was just using a figure of speech.

"I agree though, I think that we should begin acting friendly with each other in public and then in a week or so we'll announce to everybody that we are going out and Ron will know and he will have had time to mull things over and get used to the idea that we are going out."

"What do you mean getting used to the idea, why wouldn't he act like Lavendar was when she figured it out." Hermione asked perplexed.

"Hermione, Lavender didn't 'figure it out' you told her. And I thought you knew that Ron has had a thing for you for like ever. Maybe I was just imagining it but I thought that he did. That's why I thought that maybe we shouldn't tell Ron until later and we knew that he wouldn't freak out on us."

"We'll figure it out later. But if I recall right then I believe that we have an essay to write and there is a small deserted corner of the library that we can use to our advantage of 'private studying'.

"I rather like that I idea a lot. Let's go."

Hermione and Harry then proceeded on to the library much to the dismay of Lavender who was really enjoying listening to all the gossip. When they had left Lavender just shrugged and went off to find Parvati and tell her all the new juicy secrets that she had just been told.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Ron was sitting in the library silently poring over work. 'Malfoy just pisses me off. I mean how could he say stuff like to Neville? And I can't believe that Harry didn't even say anything to him-I mean I thought that he was also the man of the people. He's always trying to show off for everybody especially Hermione now. Never mind I want to get off the subject of Harry and Hermione otherwise I might get sick.' Ron was thinking this to himself when he finally found the book that he was looking. The book was for potions as Snape had given them another essay. He began working diligently until he spotted Harry and Hermione walking towards him (but to his distress they were holding hands). As soon as they saw him watching him, they let go of their hands and walked a little farther apart from each other, but they were still relatively close to each other. Hermione was the first to say something.

"Hi Ron, how are you?" Ron didn't even look up from his work when he answered. And when he answered it was more of a grunt than anything else.

"Fine." Hermione looked at Harry; they were both taken aback by the fact that Ron was actually doing work.

"Watcha doing there mate?" This time Harry had decided to say something. Ron decided that he wasn't even going to talk to Harry and so he just ignored the last question.

"Are you okay Ron, you look kind of pale. Do you want to go to the infirmary? I can walk you there if you want me to." Hermione said this in a sincere voice. Ron did look kind of pale and Hermione wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that she was sitting next to Malfoy during Transfiguration.

"NO THANKS!" Ron yelled this at Hermione and then took off running. Ron kept running until he was out of sight of the library and then he slowed down to a sort of fast walk. He was still fuming as he walked to the Gryffindor common room. He didn't even know why he was so worked up, and without even realizing it he began yelling.

"Why in the Hell would they do this to me? I bloody hate them, I mean she's practically a whore for just kissing him on the first night and he's a wanker for not telling me anything." Ron only noticed that he was yelling when he realized that people were looking at him weirdly. Professor Snape was also eyeing him and began walking towards him. Ron then turned in the opposite and began to run. As he rounded the corner he could hear Snape breathing heavily somewhere close behind him. 'Wow, he's pretty out of shape.' Ron thought to himself. 'I might as well save myself the trouble of causing him a heart attack and getting into more trouble than I already am.

"Mr. Weasley slow down or I shall give you more detention's than you can dream of." Snape said in between breaths.

"Of course, _sir_." Ron said and he obligingly slowed down to a complete stop.

"Mr. Weasley, why on earth were you running?"

"Because I was afraid of what you were going to do to me." Ron said this quite honestly.

"I have no idea why you would find me frightening." Snape sneered at Ron.

"As if you don't." Ron snorted under his breath.

"Did you say something Mr.Weasley?"

"No, I did not, Professor."

"Well then, now that that is settled, we must speak of your punishment." Snape glowed with evilness as Ron's jaw dropped. "First off you ran from a teacher, you were running in the hallways in general and you were yelling profanities quite loudly near many main classrooms. I feel that 50 points subtracted from Gryffindor and a detention for you, Mr. Weasley will be quite fitting."

"But Professor…I wasn't…." Ron began.

"No buts or I shall give you more detentions than you can dream of. Now hurry along to class, if I recall correctly you have my class next. At the end of the lesson I will tell you when you will serve the detention. Now you better go prepare for my class." And with that said Snape briskly turned away and began walking towards the dungeons.


End file.
